Established in 1985 at Ohio University, the international honor society is directed toward students, professional counselors and counselor educators. For students to be eligible they must have a grade point average of 3.5 or above and be enrolled in a graduate-level counseling program.

According to the Chi Sigma Iota website, the motive for forming an international honor society in counseling was to recognize superb academic achievement as well as outstanding service within the counseling profession. There are 281 Chi Sigma Iota chapters within the United States, Europe and the Philippines. The chapters include more than 10,000 active members and more than 50,000 initiated members.